Railway rail



Patented Nov. 7, 1939 UNITED sil-Acresv PATENT OFFICE 4 Claims.

The present invention relates to novel anduseful improvements in railway rails.

Objects and advantages of the invention will be set forth in part hereinafter and in part Will 5 be obvious herefrom, or may be learned by practice with the invention, the same being realized and attained by means of the instrumentalit'ies and combinations pointed out in the appended claims.

The invention consists in the novel parts, con- 4 20 verse sectional views showing modiiied embodiments of the present invention; and,

Figure 4 is a similar sectional view showing the rail in accordance with my present invention at a joint and its relation to a splice bar.

r The present invention has for its object the provision of a novel and improved railway rail which is not subject to ready breakage from transverse fissures. A further object is the provision of a rail in which a major portion of its strength is retained even after a failure has developed so that the danger of sudden failure in servicev is substantially eliminated.

In accordance with the present invention, the

rails are provided with a head portion and a flange connected together with a vertical web,

and at a point just under the head, the vertical web is provided with laterally extending iins which form a deep narrow groove with the head,

thereby adding to the beam strength of the rail,

and at the same time providing a member which retards the development and enlargement of any transverse ssure which would otherwise cause the rail to break in two.

Referring now in detail to the illustrative embodiment of the invention as shown in Figure 1 of the drawing, there is provided a rail having a bottom flange portion IIJ of conventional construction which extends upwardly into the web I2 and is provided on the topI of the rail with a head I4. On the outside of the head, at the left of Figure 1, the head is gradually curved underneath to a point in line with the vertical eXtension of the rail web I2 and meets with th-e upper surface of the outside lateral fin I6. Fin I6 is formed integrally with the rest of the rail and (Cl. 23S-122) is of gradually diminishing thickness outwardly. At the point where the n I5 meets the'head I4 on the top of the n and meets with the web I2y on the under side of the fm, the surface is cur-ved so as to eliminate any tendency to break at that 5 point; On the inside of the rail, the head eX-v tends. a little lower than on the .outside and in lineY ywith Athe vertical extension of the web it meets with a shorter laterally extending n I8 which is also of outwardly diminishing thickness, 10 and is likewise curved at the points where it meets with the head and the web. Thus the fins IE and I8 form a narrow V-shaped groove at each under side of the head I4. Fin I8 is shown as being within the inside of the rail head I4 so that it 16 cannot interfere with the ange on the car wheel 20.

If the head I4 and the web I2 are of usualv weight, any transverse fissure which develops in the head I4 will be prevented yfrom being extended 20 into the web I2 by means of the ns` Iii and I8 which continue to give strength to the rail and, due to their shape and location, render the rail safe for further use.

The principal causes of transverse fissures are 25 the cold rolling action of the wheels and the in.- ternal compressive strains set up in the peripheral metal of the rail head during fabrication. 'Furthermore the shape of the rail head and ins` tends to give improved cooling of the 30 rail during rolling as the rail head may be madev relatively shallow.

Figure 2 shows a modified form of the rail of the present invention and in this form, the head I4 of the rail is lighter and the inner iin I8 35 extends inwardly for a greater distance. Such a rail may be used for tangents while the rail of Figure lis more suitable for curves. y

Figure 3 shows a further modication in which the outer ln I6" is formed integrally with the 40 head I4" of the rail.

The rail shown in Figure 4. is comprised of a head portion 24 and a flange IIJ joined together by a vertical web I2 which is provided with fins 26 and 28 extending .laterally from the sides of the 45 web I2 and separated from the rail head by means of the narrow and relatively deep slots 32 and 33. These slots and lateral ns serve to improve the cooling characteristics of the rail during the rolling process, and also serve to 50 localize any transverse ssures which might otherwise result in complete fractures of the rail head. At the ends of th-e rail, the slots 32 or 33 are filled, as by welding 34, so as to provide f greater girder strength and to prevent bending 55 of the n 28 at the fishing surface. Such a rail is particularly useful where mitred joints are to be used as the mitred joint can be made at a greater angle to the side of the rail, and with this more pointed and longer lengths of rail may be employed.

The invention in its broader aspects is not limited to the specic mechanisms shown and described but departures may be made therefrom within the scope of the accompanying claims without departing from the principles of the invention and without sacricing its chief advantages.

What I claim is: v

1. A rail comprising a head and a flange portion joined together by a web and a relatively thin and wide longitudinal fin extending laterally from each side of the web to a point'be'yond the head on at least one side of the web, said fins being positioned relatively close to the head of the rail and each separated therefrom by a deep, narrow slot or groove forming a sharpangle with the under side of the head and providing a slot which may be filled at its ends adjacent to a splice bar.

2. A rail comprising a head and a iiange portion joined together by a web and a relatively thin and wide longitudinal iin extending laterally from each side of the Web to a point beyond the head on at least one side of the web, said fins being positioned relatively close to the head of the rail and each separated therefrom by a narrow slot or groove which may be filled at its ends adjacent to a splice bar. e

3. A rail comprising a head and a ange portion joined together by a web. and a relatively thin and wide outwardly tapering, integral longitudinal fin extending laterally from each side of the Web to a point beyond the head on at least one side of the web, said ns being positioned relatively close to the head of the rail and each separated therefrom by a narrow slot or groove which may be filled at its ends adjacent to a splice bar.

4. A rail comprising a head and a flange portion joined together by a web and a relatively thin and wide outwardly tapering, integral longitudinal n extending laterally from each side of the web to a point beyond the head on at least one side of the web, said ns being positioned relatively close to the head of the rail and each separated therefrom by a narrow slot or groove which may be lled at its ends adjacent to a splice bar, the 1in on the inside of the rail lying just below 25 the Wheel flange while the n on the outside of the rail lies above the other 1in.

ALBERT J. BRINKNIAN. 

